The Heretic and the Dark Master
by The Tantalus Complex
Summary: Dying, Going to Hell, Making Strange Deals with Unknown Entities of Incredible Power, Coming Back From the Dead, It's Just an Average Day For One Such As Artemis Fowl the Second. Inspired by Dante's Inferno, "In the Presence of Enemies", and other things.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl, nor any ideas I might borrow from Priest or "In The Presence Of Enemies" by Dream Theater, Greek Mythology, and Dante's Inferno.**

_Prologue_

_Standing calmly, Artemis watched as both his bodyguard and the bodyguard's sister fainted, their bodies vanishing before they hit the floor. Satisfied, he raised his own glass. Staring into the tainted liquid, he calmed his nerves before forcing himself to down it quite quickly. Just as the first drop reached his lips, he noticed something rather odd, and terrible. A missile device, with the visage of a centaur on it, flew into the main room, halting centimeters before the gold. The shock was enough that Artemis dropped his glass, the liquid spilling out of the broken vessel and sinking into the floor. There was only time for a single word to escape his lips. Without even time to think of his final words, one slipped through his gaping mouth. _

"_Darv'it."_

* * *

Nobody truly accepts the existence of hell until they actually see it. 12 year old Artemis Fowl the Second, for one of the few instances of his existence, wasn't an exception. Standing in the incredibly long line outside the gates, he stood in a general expression of boredom. His posture spoke of aristocracy, his ragged suit suggesting wealth and adventure, his sharp eyes giving an emanation of hidden genius and trace amounts of sadness, and his untrembling limbs showed that this was not the scariest thing he had ever seen. He had an insane urge to check his Rolex to see what time it was, even though he knew from glancing earlier that it had stopped ticking at the exact moment he had died: 4:52 A.M., Christmas Morning.

Stifling a chuckle, the irony swept over him. He had died the same day mankind's "savior" was born. However, even if he had yelled, the crowd around him wouldn't have heard. Limbo was a strange world, full of unexplainable mysteries. It was simply an empty dimension with gateways to any place you could care to imagine. One only had to think of where they wanted to go and they would be there. Time was no matter, you could pick any time period you wanted to enter. Why then, would the gates to hell be so crowded if you didn't have to go there? To put it quite simply, you would probably get bored of just drifting around worlds as only a spirit, unable to interact with anything or anyone. Your boredom would gradually grow until you couldn't stand it and you would actually _want _to go to hell, just to go somewhere new. The only problem is that once you left the line to hell, you would have to reenter at the back.

In the distance, you occasionally could hear what sounded like howls and growls coming from a distant island, language vaguely sounding gnommish. If Artemis had to guess, he would say it was either the fairy hell, or the demons colony of Hybras.

Time passed, and whether it was 2 seconds or 2 millennia, he finally made his way to the front of the line. A bony skeleton covered with trace amounts of mold and an aged cloak of fading black gazed down upon him. "Name?"

Wrinkling his nose at the horrific smell originating from this monstrosity, Artemis took a step back and replied nonchalantly. "Artemis Fowl the Second."

The skeleton looked through his list, which was incredibly large, until he finally found his name. Glancing up, he pointed at an elevator that just rose from hell and said, "Level 4."

Artemis nodded his thanks and took a single step forward before he turned around and gave the skeleton a look. "You're Charon, aren't you?"

The skeleton grinned and asked, "Yes, why?"

Preventing himself from breathing in the putrid stench, Artemis responded quickly before the elevator door shut. "Your stench is terrible. Have you ever considered taking a bath?"

He was rewarded with the quick look of outrage on the skeletons face before the doors shut completely and stepped out into level 4. Finding quickly that he was looking at the exact same punishment described on Dante's Fourth Circle, he saw a golden weight that weighed half a ton. Grimacing at the daunting task he had to begin, he slowly approached his fate for eternity.

Just before he got there, a white light shone out of nowhere, enshrouding both him and the gold. A voice boomed from nowhere, sounding neither female nor male. Curiously, it questioned Artemis. "Do you still wait for your God…and the symbol of your faith?"

Taking a moment to compose an appropriate answer, he addressed the unknown entity. "My God would not come for me; he would leave me here, condemned for my sins against mankind."

Finding his answer appropriate, the entity continued, sensing the promise of a bargain. "What if I could free you from this hell and misery you are condemned to?"

A master of lawyer speak and trickery, Artemis wasn't going to show hope or accept any offer until it held all the terms he wanted it to have. "Then I would feel ashamed that you would choose me to bring back and not someone else." Death had mellowed and wisened Artemis, he truly didn't see himself the best person to bring back to life out of all the souls in hell.

The entity continued his temptations. "You should never be ashamed my son. I can give you power beyond anything; trust me you will be the chosen one."

Artemis tutted, there was no guarantee that being called the chosen one meant anything at all, nor any offers of powers sounded persuading, for they probably weren't worth whatever this thing wanted from him. His soul was the only thing he had left. "You're going to have to do better than that."

The entity moved on to a different attempt to lure Artemis into a bargain. "I can lead you down the path and back to life. All I ask is that you worship me."

Artemis found the growing deal very tempting. But he needed just a little bit more than that. "Even if I were to accept all of the things you have offered so far, I still need just a little bit more find your deal agreeable."

The entity gave one last try. "I can help you seek revenge and save yourself. Give you life for all eternity."

Artemis finally considered this. This was a pretty good deal. He would be free from hell, get powers, come back to life, seek revenge, save his soul, and live forever. Holding out his hand to shake, he voiced, "It seems we have an accord." Feeling an invisible grasp on his hand, he shook it and sealed the deal. Whispering, he asked, "What must I do for the process to begin."

Hearing this, the entity replied with a hint of smugness. "Give me half your soul and worship me every day."

Hearing this, Artemis stiffened, and then nodded. Very suddenly, the grip on his hand tightened and he felt something being drained from him. This feeling continued for a while until suddenly it stopped. Artemis felt like a glass of water that had been half drained. Quite apt since he just lost half his soul.

"I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn." Artemis spoke, clearly hoping this wasn't a rip off. The entity was silent for a few seconds. Just as he suspected his worst fears had been confirmed, Artemis was about to confront the entity, when a powerful force field slammed into him. His last thought before he was claimed by the unknown was, "That's going to hurt come next winter…"

**Please Review and Tell Me What You Think. By the Way, I need a Beta really badly. Should you desire such a position, review or send me a PM. For Reviews, I love flames and constructive criticism, but I don't like ones telling me that it was just really good. Those seem kind of superfluous, unless I'm in the mood for a lot of praise. So send me a review of what I can do better, or what you really thought I did well on.**

**Logan1047**


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